Asmussen won’t comment on Rachel Alexandra’s retirement

Trainer Steve Asmussen wasn’t at Belmont Park Saturday to watch his longshot, Haynesfield, win the Jockey Club Gold Cup. That wasn’t what was odd.

Asmussen was reached by cellphone — no one really knows where he was — after Haynesfield won the race and a group of writers asked him about the Gold Cup.

After awhile, I figured I might as well ask him about the retirement about the great Rachel Alexandra. It came on Tuesday, a day after Rachel had worked a bullet at the Oklahoma Training Track at the Spa.

When the retirement was announced, there was no reason given by owner Jess Jackson in a statement. Asmussen, quoted in the same statement, said he was “blessed to have been part of history.”

Well, when we got Asmussen on the phone, it was the pefect time to ask what he really felt about the big filly.

Here is what he said the first time I asked him to comment on Rachel’s retirement:

“At the half-mile pole, I thought Haynesfield had a real good chance to win,” Asmussen said.

I asked him a second time.

“I thought Haynesfield ran a great race, it was our third Jockey Club Gold Cup win and I am proud of that,” he said.

And, one more time, I asked him.

“I thought Haynesfield ran great,” he said.

What is going on here? Why couldn’t he say that Rachel deserved to be retired? Why couldn’t he say that he thought Rachel just wasn’t the same anymore? Why couldn’t he say he couldn’t say anything because the only one in team Rachel who talks is Jackson and he never says anything.

Maybe Asmussen is ticked off that Rachel is being retired. Maybe he thinks the filly can still run. I know he was hoping to get her back to the form that saw her win all eight starts last year and be voted Horse of the Year. When Jackson pulled the plug, maybe it struck a nerve in the trainer’s body. He sure didn’t want to talk about it Saturday.

What’s wrong with him? For goodness sakes, tell us something. Racing has supported Rachel all through her career. And, the filly can’t talk. Someone has to talk for her. So, someone should. And, on Saturday, he didn’t say anything. Come on, Steve, you’re better than that.